The Problem of Human Emotion

I'm deeply concerned at the number of instances in which the notion of "emotional branding" is being used to promulgate the most gorgeously idiotic notions ... and, in turn, to propose the most gorgeously idiotic practices.

To be clear, I don't dismiss the concept of emotion as a critical factor in decision-making and acknowledge that there is a convincing argument that has a legitimate scientific basis that consumers behavior is driven by emotional impulse: that we feel first and think later, and that consumers often apply reason subjectively to justify an initial emotional reaction.

But too often, I've seen emotion used as a basis for some general observation about consumer behavior without any plausible connection to a valid scientific basis, and my sense is that it is in danger of becoming a form of mysticism, with emotions being portrayed as an unknown and unknowable force that cannot be questioned or considered logically, and that anyone who claims to be attuned to emotion should be granted automatic credibility.

This is likely a danger faced by any phenomenon that is only partially understood. Consider the number of medical treatments that used electricity or radiation in ways that we later came to recognize as completely invalid. The practitioners at the time had some shred of understanding of what these phenomena were and did, and invented devices that ultimately did more harm than good to the patients who had the vague sense that there was validity to an untested hypothesis or a phenomenon that was barely understood.

It's my sense that the same is true of emotional branding today; and while I'm confident that history will sort out the quacks from the legitimate practitioners, those of us who live and act in the present day do not have the luxury of time, and should be cautions about accepting (and even more reluctant at the prospect of making) half-witted pronouncements.

And half-wittedness is exactly the issue: a person who is completely ignorant does less harm than one who understands a little, just enough to be dangerous, and proceeds with boldness and confidence in the wrong direction. Given that" vague and little" describes the present state of knowledge about emotion, a bit of reluctance and skepticism is well in order.